Bruce Moomaw
Sun, 24 Jun 2001 20:35:08 -0700
You don't have to assume that he's gone completely "barmy" to think that he's made a very serious mistake in the case of the "banyan trees". He's old -- 83, for God's sake -- and he suffers from post-polio syndrome which now limits him to a wheelchair and forces him to sleep 16 hours per day! These physical problems by themselves naturally make it very hard for him to keep up with the literature, especially given his continued insistence with trying to keep up with everything simultaneously. It may very well be that he simply hasn't seen any scientific papers yet on the dark defrosting spots on Martian dunes. Combine that with the fact that he's always had a powerful longing to find evidence of life in the Solar System -- and the fact that your judgment often does begin to deteriorate as you get old -- and you can easily see how he could fall for Martian banyan trees, artificial roadways on Europa, and for that matter cold fusion (of which he is now an enthusiastic proponent) without being anywhere near flat-out senile. == You are subscribed to the Europa Icepick mailing list: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Project information and list (un)subscribe info: http://klx.com/europa/